Rotary internal-combustion engine



Jul 15 1924.

R. A. MOORE ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 20, 1920 I: Sheets-Sheet l Jul 15. 1924.

R. A. ,MOORE ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 20, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. A. MOORE ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 20 1920 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 MN v lll! Patented July 15, 1924.

UMTED STATES.

ROBERT ALEXANDER MOORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

1 ,501,351 PATENT: 0FFlE.

ROTARY IlN'I'EBNAhCOMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed may 20,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnn'r ALEXANDER gines in which impulses from the successive explosions are imparted to a rotary piston and more s ecifically to the form in which this piston is provided with peripheral cavities or piston faces so arranged as to co-.

operate with valve members to form explosive chambers whereby the impulse of the explosions take effect in the direction of the operation of the piston, while the reaction is sustained by the valve members.

The primary object is to provide a simple and effective construction of this character, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, while possessing durability and efficiency in action.

Further objects are to rovide novel means for introducing the exp osi ve medium gas, for scavenging the engine of the ex-.

haust gases, and finally for cooling the valve mechanism.

With these. and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the-appended claims.

-For a fulll understanding of the invention, reference is to" be had'to the following description and accompanying drawings, 1n which i Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine constructed in accordance with this invention, the side cover plate being removed and parts brokenaway and shown in section todisclose the details of construction.

Figure 2 is an end elevation. Figure. 3 is a detail view, partly in section, of one of the valve assemblies.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the device showing the fuel pumping and compressing means.

Fi re 5 is a vertical sectional view, on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Figure,6 is a fragmentary sectional View eral surface.

1920. Serial No. 382,732.

of the valve ports or passages controlling the fuel supply.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a valve member showing more clearly the configura tion thereof.

Figure 8 is a view in elevation of the side .of the engine'opposite that shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken about on the plane indicated by the line 99 :of Fig. 1, and

Figure 10 is a detail section .through the air passages of the firing chamber on line 77 of Figure 1.

Corresponding and like parts are referredto in the following descri tion and indicated in all the views of t e drawings by the same reference numerals. A 5

In general, the engine embodies a cylindrical casing 1 covers or side p ates2 at o posite sides, within which casing is journafied the rotor or rotary piston-3. The latter is of a peculiar formation in that it is formed centrally about its axis with fan blades 4 so that in the rotation of this'member it functions to expel the exhaust gases and induce, a circulation of air about certain parts, as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

At spaced intervals about the periphery of the rotor are provided a suitable number of cavities or piston. faces 5 somewhat elon-, gated and relativel deep at one end from which they gradua ly mergerto the peri h- It should be noted here t at the side walls of these-cavities are formed with curving projections 6 constituting tracks for the valves more particularly set forth as this description proceeds. Adjacent to the shallower end and'leading from each cavity is a assage 7 communicating with the central an portion of the rotor,

rovidedwith removable lit) these passages being exhaust passages. As

customary the rotor is mounted upon a shaft 8 from which power is taken for the work in the usual manner.

. In the embodiment shown, I provide a pair of rocking or oscillating valve members 9 of special construction, as will be observed from Figs. 3 and 7 of the drawings, the former figure disclosing a valve assembly and the latter a valve alone. Each of these valves com rises a hollow cyhndrical body provide with a slot or 0 ening 10, shown in Fig. 1, andwith an 0 set or extension 11, providedwlth a shoulder 12 at each side.

as will be apparent from Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The "base 'of the engine is, of course, formed with suitable chambers in which these valve members are disposed, that portion of each chamber in which the extension 11 of a valve is received being of suifi cient size to permit the forward extension to oscillate about the axis of the valve member within limits prescribed by their end Wall and the casing abutments 15 with which the shoulders 12 im inge.v

Exteriorly the b0 of the valve member, and interiorly the c amber in which it is received, are formed with corresponding grooves 16, 16 for communication with an annular groove 17, one of the latter being open to atmosphere at one side as indicated at 17 The air under the action of the rotor fan blades is drawn through the communicating passage 18 leading to the central portion of the rotor and passes. to exhaust along with the exhaust gases.

The base of the engine casing'constitutes a storage chamber 19 in which the fuel gases are compressed by means now to be described. At one side of the casing 1 the shaft 8 is provided with a pinion 2O meshing with the crank gear 21, to the crank pin 22 of which are connected the piston rods 23 of the 'stons of the compression pumps. The cylinders 24 of these pumps are pivotally connected to lateral projections 25, one of which is shown in Fig. 6. A passage'26 through each of these places the supply line 27 of the fuel in communication with the chamber 19, it being understood that suitable check valves 28, 29 are provided to permit the proper functioning of the pumping mechanism to first draw in the fuel and on the in-stroke to drive it into. the chamber 19 aforesaid. This need not be more specifiing it firmly and yieldably against the perifphery of the rotor. Into the opposite end 0 the valve member is screwed a spark' p 33 which carries a wipe-r finger v34 adapted to yieldably' contact with the electric contact 35 mounted in the. terminal block 36 secured to the side of the casing intermediate the two valvemembers. The motion of the valves is such that the respective fingers 34 will alternately impinge this contact to which an electric current from a suitable source is supplied through the conductors 37. This provides a very' simple ignition system, though I do not wish to be confined to the particular "embodiment here-' in'illustrated for this urpose.

In the operation 0 the engine the fuel under the compression in the chamber 19 passes through suitable passages 38 and into der the action of the spring tension or other means until it occupies the position shown at the right of Fig. 1.

In this position the explosion takes place and it will be observed that the forceof. the impulse takes effect against the end wall or piston face of the cavity so to speak, while the reaction of the impulse is against the end of the valve member substantially in a direction radially of the axis of said valve member. As the rotor moves under the impulse the valve member extension is shifted outwardly by the formation of the cavity, and as the'end of said extension passes the passage 7 of the rotor the exhaust gases are drawn from the cavity by the action of the fan and dischar d through the openings 39 in the sides of t e rotor casing. Any exhaust gases from a previous explosion which may back up into the cavity in the rear of the valve extension are obviously permitted to escape or are forced out of the passage 7 in this movement of the valve member. The valve members are so arranged, that it will be ap parent that they will ride into these cavities 5 succwsively so that the impulse will take place rapidly one after another to impart continuous and steady impulse to the rotor. As this action above described takes place the motion of the rotor draws the air through the exterior valve passages in the mannerli ereinbefore described so that these valves are always maintained suitably cooled to permit of the proper operation of the device.

The rotation of the piston in the manner described places the pumping mechanism in operation so that the fuel supply in the chamber 19 is maintained sufiicient for the purposes of continuing the operation of theengine. It "need be added only that the rocking movement of the valves as they pass into and out of the cavities in the manner above described shifts the spark plug fingers 34 into alternate engage ment with the contact post 35 to fire thefuel charge at the proper moment.

It will be obvious fromhthe foregoingdescription that an engine constructed in accordance with this invention possesses material advantage over the ordinary reciprocating piston type of engine, in that it is com of a relatively, few parts and these are subject, to a minimum amount of wear and produce a minimum amount of friction;

Slight changes may obviously be made in the details of construction without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, and Within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a rotary internal combustionv engine,- the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted therein and 'formedwith piston faces, a valve movable into and out 4 of cooperative relation with the faces, the

movement of the valve automatically controlling the admission of the charge, and i ition means including a fixed contact eld ment and a movable contact element, the latter being mounted upon and carried by the valve so as to be movable therewith and arranged to be brought into engagement with the fixed contact at the proper time.

2. In a rotary internal combustion engine,

latter being ;rigidly connected to the valves so as to be swung into engagement'with the fixed contact at the proper timeto explode the charge.

3. In a rotary internal combustion engine,

the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted therein and formed with pistonfaces,- a hollow valve pivotally mounted upon the casing and adapted to swing into and out of cooperative relation with the faces, the swinging movements of the hollow valve serving to automatically control the admission of. the charge thereto, a spark plug projecting axially into the hollow valve at one end thereof, and ignition means including a fixed contact element and a swinging contact element, the latter being'cabried by the spark plug and adapted to be the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted within the casing and provided with a seriesof piston faces, a hollow valve member pivotally'mounted within the casing and adapted to swing in and out in cooperative relation to the faces, a plug axially applied to one end of the hollow valve, spring means cooperating with the plug to swing the valve into operative position, a spark plug axially applied to the opposite end of the hollow valve so as to rotate therewith, and contact means associated with the spark plug and adapted to be controlled automatically by the, swingingmovements of the valves.

5. In a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted withinthe casin and provided with a peripheral series of piston faces, valve means cooperating successively with the faces to provide firing chambers and c0ntrolling the admission of an explosive charge to the firing chambers, fan members mounted upon the rotor and providing a means for positively scavenging the engine, and means associated with the fan members for circulating'air around the valves to cool the same. i

6. In a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination with a casin of a rotor mounted within the casing, sai rotor being formed with a peripheral series of piston faces and a centrally disposed fan chamber,-

a hollow valve mounted for successive engagement with the faces to provide firing chambers, means for exploding the charge in the hollow valve, air passages being provided around the valve andm communication with the fan chamber of the rotor, and fan blades mounted upon the rotor and arranged within the fan chamber to cause a circulation of air through the before mentioned passages to cool the hollow valve.

7. In a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted within the casing and rovided with a peripheral series of piston aces and a central fan chamber, a hollow valve arranged for successive engagement with the faces of the rotor for cooperation therewith to provide firing chambers, means for igniting the charges 1n the hollow valve, air as-.

sages being provided around the ho ow va v tion with the faces, removable plugs axially applied to the hollow valve member at opposite ends thereof. so as to rotate therewith, a spring associated with one of the plugs for swinging the valve member into operative position, and ignition means assoclated with the opposite plug for exploding the charge within the hollow valve member.

, 9. In-a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted within the casing, a hollow member movably mounted within the casing and operatively associated with the rotor to 'provide a combustion chamber within which the ex losive charges are fired, fan members drlven by the rotor, and means associated with the fan membersfor positively circulating air between the casing and hollow mem- 2 berto cool the same.

10. In a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination with a casing, of a rotor mounted within the casing, means cooperating with the rotor to provide a firing chamber, the casing having a fan chamber and bein also provided with an air passage leading from the fan chamber around the firing chamber, and a fan actuated by the rotor and operating to positively circulate air from the fan chamber through the before mentioned air passage and around the firing chamber to cool the walls of the latter.

11. In a rotary, internal combustion engine, the combination with a casing, of a. rotor mounted therein, a member pivotally mounted within the casing and cooperating with the rotor to provide a combustion chamber, the casing being provided with an air passage leading. to the bearings of the pivotally mounted member, and a fan actuated by the rotor for forcing air through the said passage and around the bearings o ally mounted member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ROBERT ALEXANDER MOORE.

the pivot- 

